The Warriors have lost four games in a row and eight of 10.
Just in time for today’s rescheduled game against the Nuggets, starting a tense stretch of three games in four nights – tonight in Denver, at home tomorrow against the Clippers, back in Denver on Thursday.
Tonight’s game was originally scheduled for December 30, but the Nuggets are having trouble with the coronavirus. The contest has been rescheduled from January to tonight.
The Golden State are clearly not thrilled with the new times and are resting two All-Stars and all-time greats Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Clay Thompson tonight.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson:
“We don’t send a lot of our players to Denver,” Kerr said after Saturday night’s loss. “The decision was pretty easy. Putting that game on the schedule, like the league did after that game was postponed, and then going back to Denver, three games in four nights, with two of those games going back and forth, we’re not going to put in our best minute guys. risky.”
Kerr seems spoiled.
When did the NBA have to move this game? With the exception of the day after the initial postponement (when it is not clear whether the Nuggets would have been ready to play) and the All-Star break, any other general shutdown date would mean a simultaneous postponement for at least one of the teams. Compared to that, three games in four days looks better.
There have been no perfect days to reschedule numerous postponed league games. Wouldn’t it have been better to shorten the Golden State and Denver All-Star breaks by one day? Possibly, although it would have its drawbacks. Did more effort need to be put in to burden the Nuggets, who couldn’t play on the original day, rather than the Warriors? Again, perhaps, though there is something inconvenient about effectively punishing a team for having its players contract a highly contagious virus during a pandemic. Every NBA team has dealt with coronavirus issues this season.
It doesn’t look like the league has chosen Golden State with a revised schedule.
The Warriors – for themselves – are probably best left to Curry, Wiggins and Thompson. It’s not worth wearing out before what they hope will be a deep playoff. But this brings us back to the fundamental question of teams resting players: where should the line be drawn between teams protecting their own interests and offering the best entertainment product in every game?
In this case, as in the case of the transfer, the decision will be with the NBA.